Vehicle blockchain transactions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11368284-B2
Application number	US-201916582752-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 25, 2019
Priority date	Sep 25, 2019
Publication date	Jun 21, 2022
Grant date	Jun 21, 2022

Abstract

A system is disclosed that may comprise: one or more processors of a center node, wherein the center node is a vehicle computer; and memory of the center node, wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the one or more processors, the instructions comprising to: determine a first network comprising the center node and a plurality of member nodes based on a mesh network of the center node and the plurality of member nodes; add at least one virtual node to the first network; and using the first network, exchange cryptographic data between the at least one virtual node, the center node, and the plurality of member nodes.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
one or more processors of a center node, wherein the center node is a vehicle computer; and
memory of the center node, wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the one or more processors, the instructions comprising instructions to:
join a peer-to-peer mesh network having a plurality of member nodes using short-range wireless communication (SRWC);
determine a first network comprising the center node and the plurality of member nodes of the mesh network by remapping the mesh network as a star network based on the center node as a hub and the plurality of member nodes as spokes, wherein at least some of the plurality of member nodes are different vehicle computers and at least one of the plurality of member nodes is an infrastructure node;
add at least one virtual node that is not part of the mesh network to the first network as a spoke using long-range wireless communication (LRWC); and
using the first network, exchange cryptographic data between the at least one virtual node, the center node, and the plurality of member nodes.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the cryptographic data includes transaction data and a cryptographic hash of a block of a blockchain.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to: determine a topography of the mesh network by determining a wireless link topography of the center node and the plurality of member nodes to be remapped.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to: after exchanging cryptographic data, use a gossip algorithm to disseminate a block of a blockchain to the plurality of member nodes.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein using the gossip algorithm comprises: randomly selecting at least two of the plurality of member nodes for a pull message requesting blockchain data; and randomly providing at least two of the plurality of member nodes at least some of that blockchain data.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one virtual node is one of a remote server, a second center node of a second network, or an isolated node.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions to exchange cryptographic data further comprise instructions to: determine that one of the plurality of member nodes is to conduct a blockchain transaction with the virtual node, or determine that the virtual node is to conduct a blockchain transaction with one of the plurality of member nodes.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to: store the cryptographic data at the center node and provide it to the plurality of member nodes for storage thereat.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further comprise instructions to: receive compensation for storing the cryptographic data at the center node; disseminate compensation to the plurality of member nodes; or both.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the center node and the plurality of member nodes communicate with one another via a short-range wireless communication protocol, wherein the center node and the virtual node communicate with one another via a long-range wireless communication (LRWC) protocol.

11. The system of claim 1 , further comprising: a gateway device enabling LRWC communication between the center node and the virtual node; and a short-range wireless communication system that comprises at least one wireless transceiver enabling SRWC communication between the center node and the plurality of member nodes.

12. A method, comprising:
joining a peer-to-peer mesh network having a plurality of member nodes using short-range wireless communication (SRWC);
determining, at a center node, a first network comprising the center node and the plurality of member nodes of the mesh network by remapping the mesh network as a star network based on the center node as a hub and the plurality of member nodes as spokes, wherein at least some of the plurality of member nodes are different vehicle computers and at least one of the plurality of member nodes is an infrastructure node;
adding at least one virtual node that is not part of the mesh network to the first network as a spoke using long-range wireless communication (LRWC); and
using the first network, exchanging cryptographic data between the at least one virtual node, the center node, and the plurality of member nodes,
wherein the center node is a vehicle computer.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the cryptographic data includes transaction data and a cryptographic hash of a block of a blockchain.

14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising: determining a topography of the mesh network by determining a wireless link topography of the center node and the plurality of member nodes to be remapped.

15. The method of claim 12 , further comprising: after exchanging cryptographic data, using a gossip algorithm to disseminate a block of a blockchain to the plurality of member nodes.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Macneille Perry Robinson
• Ferrer John Michael Galan
• Rao Prashant
• Hawley Taylor
• Wisniewski Joseph
• Tseng Fling Finn

Classifications

• H04W4/40 Primary

  for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] · CPC title

• H04L41/046

  comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor · CPC title

• H04W4/44

  for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H] · CPC title

• H04L9/50

  using hash chains, e.g. blockchains or hash trees · CPC title

• H04L2209/84

  Vehicles · CPC title